Why the guys in the boardroom would heave Bush over the side

[chiburb]

Snip:

The much bigger worry inside boardrooms, from New York to Atlanta and Chicago, has been this: will the unpopularity abroad of George Bush's America - whether we are talking his attack on Iraq or his inaction on global warming - impact on the fundamental appeal of their brands in global markets? And if so, how badly?

According to a report just completed by the New York consulting firm RoperASW, the value of America's favourite brands abroad is showing unmistakable signs of slippage.

Snip:

Of the top 10 global US-based firms, only one saw an increase in its brand-power compared with a year earlier. All of the others were either unchanged, which is bad enough, or in negative territory. This is the fifth year that the same survey has been carried out. And 2003 is the first time that American companies have seen their brand-power starting to sink. By contrast, the survey shows gains for the best-known non-US brands.

Snip:

The Bush administration considers itself to be business- friendly. Yet, it may have inadvertently soured the atmosphere around the globe for the very icons of American capitalism. These icons, from Coke to Nike to Levi's, may have only two choices. To underplay their American origins as far as possible. Or to wait for the President, or his policies, to change.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=424992

(With thanks to Atrios for the link)